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Though it remains the quintessential All-American sport and pretty much the providence of amateurs elsewhere in the world, the popularity of baseball continues to grow across the globe with various countries, including South Africa, providing players for America’s major and minor leagues.
The appeal of the sport in South Africa received a huge boost in 2000 when the unheralded national team – so unheralded that few people even knew they existed – qualified for the 2000 summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia by beating the much-fancied Guam, a US territory with a long baseball history.
Though the team was outplayed at the games, finishing last in the eight-team field with a 1-win-6 losses record, South Africa played hard and their one and only victory was against the Netherlands, amongst the better international teams. Unfortunately the South Africans didn’t make it out the Qualifying Tournament for the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
The national team, however, will be back on international display in 2006 at the inaugural World Baseball Classic. South Africa is one of 16 nations that will take part in the 18-day tournament in March, scheduled to be staged in Japan and Puerto Rico.
The amateur status of the sport means there are few resources on the Internet and no national association as yet.
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